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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Car shopping update

This was soooo the wrong week for my car to be dead. Way too much going on, being pulled in 50 directions. And adding the car on top of this....not good.

First off....we were pre-approved for the loan, pending our fax of all the usual documents (paystubs, w2's). So that will be taken care of today. While I wasn't overly nervous about it, I was a little tense. Just glad that is over.

Second, we discovered that car shopping is going to be a tough gig.

Of the cars we were interested in looking at yesterday....3 of the 4 were SOLD before we got there. And we had called beforehand and were told yes, they are available. By the time we got there.....gone. At least one guy was nice enough to call us before we drove there (we had set up an appt) and said the car was gone.

It seems that if we find something on the internet....we have to almost drop everything to go see it. I don't like this at all. We can't just drop everything. Let alone feel like if we don't make an on the spot decision we will lose out on the car.

I know alot of you have said, don't buy American. And while I mostly agree with you.....Toyota and Honda
hold their value.....which makes them out of the price range. If I can find one in our price range and that fit our needs....I am totally on board with that. But we haven't found that....

Right now, we are leaning toward a Jeep Liberty. It is small, decent gas mileage. It drives nice. And in terms of space...it is enough for our needs. No more, no less.

We did find one that is a maybe. But not quite ready to pull the trigger. I will save that as a separate post......

As a final note.....to the car salesman who was more concerned about the color that would make me happy.....until you can prove to me that the color of the car effects the function....I don't care what color it is!!!

From what I understand, the internet specials are just a gag to get you interested, then they try to sell you a more expensive model. Don't discount bigger name lots. Many times, their used inventory is decent and it is not always too expensive. Often with some warranty.

Jeep is known for mechanical issues (I have one, I know), but then again, any vehicle is really, including foreign ones.

Looking for a car is a time-consuming task. I hope you find the diamond!

If you have a dealer you like, or can get a recommendation from someone you know who has one they have worked that they like, call the salesperson, tell them what you are looking for, your price point and if they are a truly good salesman - they will find the car for you. I got my car that way. You have to be flexible with features and colors but it sounds like you are.

Also, and you may have already done this, figure out a few vehicles that fit your needs, and then go car shopping. I would suggest you check out consumer reports (you can probably check out magazines from your library) and online forums to research vehicles that fit your needs and then look at autotrader.com and edmunds.com for vehicles.

I know this is frustrating, but go with your gut. You are getting too much advice now. All of it good concerned advice, but you don't need all of us telling you what to do and then adding that to the stress. I trust you to make good decisions, even on the color! (salesmen)

I agree with the other poster.. Jeep liberty's have Been known for their mechanical issues. I know 3 people that owned them and they all had issues. I had a Chrysler sebring that had similar problems as well. My friend had a 97 Sebring and told me everything that went wrong and sure enough my 2004 version had the same problems at the same mileage. Jeeps sound to be the same. That company really needs to work on quality!

I have a 2004 jeep liberty. Luckily I have not had many issues but I also had it checked out with a mechanic who gave us a list of all the things that were going on it. We refused to buy it unless all the things were fixed and they did. As for gas mileage mine is terrible! I feel as if everytime I turn around I have to fill it up. I even had our mechanic check to make sure we were not leaking gas! That is how bad it is. Good luck finding something!!